Download PDF
Dynamic Templates Help Create More Accurate Month-End Close Reports
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Mining
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Process Control & Optimization
- Remote Asset Management
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
The finance team faced several challenges in their month-end close processes. The data received from the bank often differed from the data in their General Ledger (GL) due to uncleared cheques. This discrepancy required manual input of information about these cheques into all month-end close spreadsheets until they cleared. Additionally, the use of uncontrolled spreadsheets allowed unauthorized changes, and the data was stored in a single workbook that could be easily lost or damaged. The lack of a formal workflow process made it difficult for management to track user-end changes and the status of each task.
About The Customer
The customer is one of the leading mining companies in North America. They were manually reconciling data from banks and their General Ledger (GL) for their month-end close processes. The company faced challenges with data discrepancies due to uncleared cheques, which required manual input into spreadsheets. The finance team struggled with uncontrolled spreadsheets, lack of formal workflow processes, and the risk of data loss or damage. The company sought a solution to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their month-end close processes, enhance data visibility, and provide better control over user activities.
The Solution
Vena provided a comprehensive solution by seamlessly connecting the company's GL to a central, secure data repository. This integration ensured that all up-to-date data from the GL automatically flowed into Vena's repository. The company's spreadsheets, templates, models, and formulas were also connected to the repository and automatically updated when changes were made to the financial data. Vena's audit trail feature date-, time-, and user-stamped all changes made to spreadsheets, providing a clear record of modifications. The finance team could create ad-hoc reports to explain discrepancies between bank data and GL figures. Additionally, Vena's formal workflow engine enabled management to assign tasks and deadlines to specific users, track the status of each task, and receive automatically generated emails for missed deadlines and task completions.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Underground Mining Safety
The goal was to produce a safety system to monitor and support underground mining operations; existing systems were either too simple (i.e. phone line) or overly complex and expensive, inhibiting deployment, and providing little-to-no support in event of an accident. Given the dangerous nature of the mining work environment and the strict regulations placed on the industry, the solution would have to comply with Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulations. Yet the product needed to allow for simple deployment to truly be a groundbreaking solution - increasing miner safety and changing daily operations for the better.
Case Study
Mining Firm Quadruples Production, with Internet of Everything
Dundee Precious Metal’s flagship mine, in Chelopech, Bulgaria, produces a gold, copper, and silver concentrate set a goal to increase production by 30%. Dundee wanted to increase production quality and output without increasing headcount and resources, improve miner safety, and minimize cost.
Case Study
Fastenal Builds the Future of Manufacturing with MachineMetrics
Fastenal's objective was to better understand their machine downtime, utilization, quality issues, and to embrace cutting-edge manufacturing technology/process improvement capabilities to bring their team to the next level. However, there was a lack of real-time data, visualization, and actionable insights made this transition impossible.
Case Study
Joy Mining Systems
Joy equipment faces many challenges. The first is machine integration and control. The business end of the machine has a rapidly-spinning cylinder with 6-inch diamond-studded cutting teeth. It chews through rock at rates measured in tens of tons per minute. The system grinds through the rock in front, creating a rectangular mine tunnel. Hydraulic lifters support the ceiling as the machine moves forward. Automated drills and screws drive 3-ft long screws into the ceiling to stabilize it. The rock and coal fall into a set of gathering "fingers" below the cutting cylinder. These fingers scoop up the rock and coal and deposit it onto a conveyor belt. The conveyor passes under the machine and out the back. A train of conveyor belt cars, up to a mile long, follows the cutter into the mine. The rock shoots along this train at over 400 feet per minute until it empties into rail cars at the end. Current systems place an operator cage next to the cutter. Choking dust (potentially explosive), the risk of collapse and the proximity of metal and rock mayhem make the operator cage a hazardous location.
Case Study
Improved Monitoring in Industrial Manufacturing Facility
When your crane is moving tons of magma-hot iron, you can’t afford an unexpected failure. McWane Ductile knew monitoring the crane motor metrics within their facility could help prevent a mechanical failure that would strand an enormous bucket of molten metal overhead. Unfortunately, their legacy wired monitoring system couldn’t work with moving objects in this extreme environment. If they could integrate wireless capabilities into their existing equipment they could extend their monitoring capabilities without starting over from scratch.
